The International Congress of Radiology and the São Paulo Radiological Meeting on May 3-6 was the first occasion in which both the International Society of Radiology (ISR) and the Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging Society of São Paulo (SPR) cooperated on a scientific program.
The São Paulo society's annual meeting normally attracts a similar volume of radiologists from Brazil and amounts to the fourth largest radiology meeting in the world. In recent years, it has begun to invite other societies to contribute a small segment of presentations. This year's event attracted more than 5,000 radiologists for scientific presentations in Portuguese and English.
In addition to the joint sponsorship, five major regional radiology organizations and a dozen national radiology organizations contributed lecturers, primarily in English. Participants included the Asian and Oceanian Society of Radiology, the InterAmerican College of Radiology, the European Society of Radiology, the American College of Radiology, and the African Society of Radiology, plus the World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology and the International Society of Radiographers and Radiological Technologists.
The ISR's featured lectures were presented by Dr. James Thrall, chairman of diagnostic radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Dr. Giovanni Cerri, current São Paulo secretary of health and director of the Institute of Radiology at the University of São Paulo. Thrall and Dr. Hans Ringertz, PhD, of Stockholm, the retiring past-president of the International Society of Radiology, both received the ISR Béclère medal, given biennially by the ISR.
The new ISR officers were installed during the congress, including president Dr. Jan Labuschagne from Bunbury, Australia; president-elect Dr. James Borgstede from Colorado Springs, CO; secretary-general Dr. Luis Donoso Bach from Sabadell, Spain; Dr. Ricardo Garcia Monaco from Buenos Aires, Argentina; and the head of the International Commission on Radiologic Education, Dr. James Brink of New Haven, CT. The retired president, Dr. Nicholas Gourtsoyiannis of Athens, Greece, remains past president.
The ISR also voted for members of its executive committee, sponsored by RSNA and national societies in China, France, Brazil, and Egypt. The incumbent officers of the five regional societies also serve on the ISR executive committee.
The general chairman for the São Paulo convention organization was Dr. Renato Mendonça of São Paulo, an incumbent Brazilian designate on the ISR executive committee. Dr. Ricardo Baaklini is president of the Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging Society of São Paulo.
In 2013, the São Paulo group will co-sponsor its annual session with the World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. The International Society of Radiology's next congress will be conducted with the Egyptian Society for Radiology and Nuclear Medicine in May 2014 in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh.
